Gang of 4 held for duping man they befriended on social media

The woman suspect had created a Facebook account in the name of a girl “Nagar Pari” and used it to interact with the complainant

Noida: A gang of four people, including a woman, has been arrested by Noida police for allegedly cheating and extorting money from a 21-year-old Noida-based man by befriending him on social media site Facebook, officials said on Friday.

The suspects allegedly took the complainant’s mobile phone and then forced him into transferring ₹17,120 to their account. (HT Photo)

Police identified the four Abhishek Sharma (25), Firoz Khan (23) -- both residents of Khoda colony in Ghaziabad-- Shashipal Prasad (22) -- a resident of Trilokpuri in Delhi -- and Shivani (20) -- a resident of New Ashok Nagar in Delhi.

The woman suspect had created a Facebook account in the name of a girl “Nagar Pari” and used it to interact with the complainant, a graduate unemployed in Noida, the police said.

According to Manish Mishra, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida, the complainant, requesting anonymity, filed a complaint at the Sector 58 police station on Thursday evening.

“The complainant said he had become friends with the woman ‘Nagar Pari’ on Facebook and the both had been chatting for the last one month. On March 14, they decided to meet each other for the first time, near Sector 59 metro station. The two met and were talking when three men came and started accusing the complainant of harassing their sister,” said the ADCP, adding that the complainant, hails from Bulandshahr and a resident of Sector 63, Noida.

The suspects took the complainant’s mobile phone and then forced him into transferring ₹17,120 to their account after threatening to kill him, the complainant alleged.

“On Thursday, the suspects again started blackmailing the complainant, demanding more money from him, and threatening to kill him. That is when he decided to report the matter to the police. An FIR was registered under sections 420 (cheating) and 386 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code against the four suspects and a police team was deployed to nab them on Thursday,” the officer said.

A senior officer, who is part of the investigation, informed that a trap was laid to nab the four suspects.

“The suspects called the complainant to Sector 62 to take more money from him. A police team laid a trap and when the two parties met on Thursday evening, the suspects were nabbed by the police and arrested,” said the officer.

During questioning, the suspects revealed that they have targeted at least 15 more people the same way in the last six months.

“It was found that the gang has made at least 20 more Facebook profiles. They admitted to have carried out similar incidents with at least 15 more people in Noida. However, we have not found any such FIRs registered in local police stations. This could be because such complainants do not report the matter due to fear of shame,” said the senior officer.

While Abhishek used to work as delivery executive till a year ago, Shivani is pursuing graduation, Shashipal and Firoz are also unemployed, said the officer.

“The suspects told their families that they are working in a private job in Noida, whereas they were running this gang. The suspects were produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody on Friday,” said the ADCP.